Rep. Duncan Hunter comments in Ramona

Rep. Duncan Hunter has roiled an already volatile immigration debate by saying that U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants should be deported.

The East County Republican’s comments surfaced Wednesday on a YouTube video of a tea party event in Ramona on Saturday.

The video shows him speaking about the need to crack down on illegal immigration and then responding to a question from the audience about certain children who are born in the United States and, thus, automatically become citizens.

“Congressman, would you support the deportation of natural-born American citizens that are the children of illegal aliens?” the questioner asked.

“I would have to, yes,” Hunter responded. “And I’ll tell you why. You know, this is a, it’s a complex issue and it’s, you know, you can look and say, ‘You’re a mean guy. You know, that’s a mean thing to do. That’s not humanitarian.’

“We simply can not afford what we’re doing now. We just can’t afford to do it. California’s going under. How much in debt are we, $20 billion? ...We just can’t afford it. That’s it.

“And we’re not being mean. We’re just saying it takes more than walking across the border to become an American citizen. It’s what’s in our souls, not just walking across the border.”